Features
A Pollstar Live! Path With A Heart *Update*
Chuck Morris came to Pollstar a few months ago with both an offer and invitation.
The
“Path With A Heart: An Invitation To Do Work That Matters” isn’t your typical business conference session. Morris, who will also moderate the panel, is curating a group of superstars from inside and outside the music industry that promises inspiration for not just creating a better world, but better people and positive images.
Confirmed panelists to date are Dr. Jeffrey Pryor, the author of an upcoming book from which the panel takes its name; Brad Corrigan of this week’s Hotstar,
[UPDATE] Just added to the panel is Doobie Bros. lead guitarist Patrick Simmons.
Pryor serves as the executive director of Denver’s Anschutz Family Foundation, and has spent most of his life devoted to charity work starting in the Peace Corps. His current endeavors are focused on building capacity within the nonprofit sector by inspiring people to join its workforce.
To that end, he’s interviewed leaders and staff of some of the world’s most respected organizations including the American Red Cross, Habitat For Humanity, Teach for America and The Nature Conservancy. He’s also included the voices of influential people such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Bill Clinton, Dave Matthews, Greg Mortenson, Dikembe Mutombo and Sandra Day O’Connor for his book.
Corrigan and his band, Dispatch, performed three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden after a long hiatus and donated 100 percent of the money to charity. The majority went to fighting famine, disease and social injustice in Zimbabwe with the rest allocated to charities they support in the U.S.
Cohn is the longtime manager of the Doobie Brothers and founded B.R. Cohn Winery, which is a regular location for benefit concerts for veterans and other deserving charities.
The executive for global broadcasting of 2005’s Live 8, John Rubey, is a veteran producer of numerous charity event broadcasts including “We Are The World for Haiti,” “Operation New Years” for troops overseas, Dispatch at MSG and many others.
Moore has spent the last decade working with the Shalom Foundation that helps children living in extreme poverty in Guatemala City, providing education, safe housing, medical and clean water projects.
Rank is known by many in the L.A. entertainment sector for her work with Habitat for Humanity, with many strong and successful industry partnerships. She’s on the international body’s U.S. Council, overseeing policy making for all U.S. affiliates of Habitat for Humanity.
Mitchell is partnering with Dr. Pryor on several efforts to engage the public in civil society and build the nonprofit sector. As co-author and researcher for “Path With A Heart,” she’ll incorporate polling technology in the panel presentation and has spent more than 25 years providing organizational training, consulting and evaluation services to all levels of the nonprofit sector.
Additional artists and guest panelists are expected to be announced as the Feb. 5 panel approaches.
Morris has supported many charitable organizations, including the Anschutz Family Foundation, for several years as his way of giving back to the industry that has given him so much over the course of four decades.
“I’m the son of a school teacher, who grew up in a very lower-middle-class neighborhood in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and I’m very blessed to have a career that has given me so many opportunities for me and my family,” Morris told Pollstar. “A lot of people in our business, from the acts to executives, are giving back and it’s wonderful to see. It’s getting bigger and bigger every year.”
Morris isn’t concerned that not enough of the most fortunate among us could do more than the occasional benefit concert. It’s not even that the current recession has financially harmed much of the nonprofit sector. What worries Morris is what he, and Pryor, sees is the pool of capable executives and directors of nonprofits drying up through attrition with few entering the ranks to replace them.
“It’s not the normal panel talking about ‘why do promoters [screw] bands’ or ‘who is more evil’,” Morris said with a laugh. But, more seriously, “It’s a really good cause and would be a good education and interesting for conference-goers.
“And it’s interesting that doing nonprofit work for artists is not only a wonderful thing, but it really gives them credibility with their fans,” Morris said. “It goes hand-in-hand, not just to do great things, but it helps in careers. It has some substance.
“There’s real benefits besides just the pleasure of giving back for the artist getting involved in nonprofits. More and more artists are doing it. I’m thrilled that Pollstar is willing to give space to something like this.”